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发疯 (fā fēng) — to go crazy; to lose one's mind; (figuratively) to act wildly or recklessly

Definition

发疯 (fāfēng) literally means 'to go crazy / lose one's mind', used both literally for mental breakdown and figuratively for reckless, wild behavior. Often used in casual speech to scold or describe impulsive actions.

verb
to go crazyto lose one's mind(figuratively) to act wildly or recklessly

Examples

  • ，发疯。
    Tā zuì jìn yā lì tài dà, kuài yào fā fēng le.
    He's been under so much pressure lately that he's about to go crazy.
  • ，。
    Tā fā le yí cì fēng, bǎ jiā lǐ de dōng xī dōu zá le.
    He had a crazy episode and smashed everything in the house.
  • 发疯，！
    Bié fā fēng le, zhè yàng kāi chē tài wēi xiǎn!
    Stop acting crazy — driving like this is too dangerous!

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

发fālet out/develop
疯fēngmadness

发 means to let out or develop, and 疯 is madness, so the result is going mad.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 發; 发 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 发 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (爆发, 出发) it is 發; in others (理发, 头发) it is 髮.

The form 發, which 发 stands for in many words, was originally drawn as a bow firing an arrow.

Open 发 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 瘋; 疯 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
疒Written in full as病bìng
Sound part声符shēngfú
風
風fēng瘋fēng
Same sound today

The traditional form 瘋 pairs 疒 (illness) with 風 as a sound part; the simplified 疯 is a later shorthand, so its right side is not a historical sound part.

Open 疯 →
Appears in
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